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Native Plants
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The Monday Garden
August 31, 2003, issue no. 75
Goldenrod & Ragweed
by Sue Sweeney |
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It must be fall because the goldenrod's blooming.
Goldenrod's a lovely fall bloomer that's gotten a totally undeserved bad
rap as a major source of allergy-causing pollens. It's not.
Goldenrod's just a nice, friendly, easy-to-get-along with native.
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It's another native plant, ragweed (Ambrosia species), which blooms at
the same time that's the villain. In the picture, taken in a local vacant lot,
the goldenrod is surrounded by ragweed.
Worse yet, not only is ragweed the source of much human misery; it's horribly
invasive, crowding out everything in its path. Ragweed has lacy, pointy leaves
with silvery undersides; the green flowers blend into the background. Easy
plant to overlook. However, now that you're looking for it, you'll see ragweed
everywhere -- roadsides, fence lines, railroad embankments, parking lots,
gardens. Like poison ivy (issue 74, 08/24/03), we have only ourselves to
blame. All it needs is freshly turned earth and sun; it has a deep taproot so
it's doesn't care about drought. Its seeds will wait 40 years in the soil for
the right conditions to come along before germinating.
Ragweed didn't get out of hand until the European settlers along the East Coast
cut down much of the forest and plowed up the land. Indeed, I read in the
New York Times recently that archeologists date the mud at the bottom of the
Long Island Sound by the ragweed pollen count which rocketed upwards in the
1800's.
Ragweed is useful to non-humans. The oil-rich seeds are good bird food,
particularly in winter. The leaves are munched on by some insects, which in
turn are hopefully munched on by birds, toads, and other insect eaters.
However, it doesn't play nicely with others and crowds out equally valuable
plants like goldenrod.
Indeed, because of the large number of people who are allergic to it, I think
it's un-neighborly to tolerate it on your property. Particularly, these days
when so many kids already have asthma, we need to make more effort to eradicate
the noxious stuff.
Meanwhile, back to goldenrod. It's beloved of birds, and bees, and other
beneficial insects. There are over 60 goldenrod species on the East Coast. You
find them in sunny spots along the edge of woods, fence lines, roadsides and the
like. There's even a seaside variety. It's also a great garden plant.
More information on ragweed:
www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/pollen/plant.htm,
and
www.woodlanddunes.com/ripples_arch_091601.html |
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